HTC slams reports of a new VR firm

HTC slammed rumours about the company's plans to spin off its virtual reality (VR) business into a standalone company.

Jan 19, 2016 14:51 IST

HTC was quick to trash rumours, which surfaced on Monday, about the company's plans to spin off its VR business into a standalone firm. The local media cited unnamed sources and reported that HTC CEO Cher Wang had been planning to create a new VR firm that will be wholly owned by Wang and HTC.

HTC issued a statement on Tuesday downplaying the recent rumours about its VR business, which raised the company's stocks on the Taiwan Stock Exchange early on Monday. The report also noted that the talks of spinning off the VR business originated last year, before Peter Chou stepped down from his role as a CEO, but were abandoned for unknown reasons.

"Recent media reports in Taiwan, such as by United Evening News, stating that Cher Wang is planning to spin off HTC's VR operations into an independent entity that will be wholly owned by Wang is incorrect. HTC will continue to develop our VR business to further maximise value for shareholders," the Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer wrote on its official Investors blog on Tuesday.

The report of VR spin out had a good impact on the shares. HTC's stock price at the Taiwan Stock Exchange rose by over 5% to NT$76.60 early on Monday. HTC's stock price as of 1:37 pm ET on Tuesday was NT$76.50, according to Bloomberg Business.

HTC's VR efforts are finally nearing fruition. The company's first virtual reality headset â€“ HTC Vive â€“ will finally be available in April. Pre-orders for HTC Vive commence on 29 February and the pricing details will be announced before that.

HTC unveiled the Vive headset at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in March last year, but has since been pushing the dates for its official release. The VR headset is jointly developed by HTC and US-based game supplier Valve. HTC Vive has Tracked Controllers and it is one-of-a-kind VR headset that lets users move around and turn the entire room into a VR space.